Book reviews and other bookish news

The 90s Kid Book Tag

This tag was created by the ever wonderful The Literary Phoenix. She tagged me when she created it this past month and I thought it looked like a wonderful tag. Growing up in the 90’s was an experience and relating some of those nostalgic memories to books was a fun task on a Monday morning!

The Rules

Please, please, please steal this tag and spread it around! I only ask that you link it back to The Literary Phoenix so that I can see everyone’s answers!

Freeze tag was all the rage in the 90s. Tag someone (or many) you think would have fun with this!

Have fun!

Pokemon

A GBA game and trading card game where you battled pocket monsters and strived to catch them all. Back in the day, there were only 150 Pokemon.

The author you need every book from.

Samantha Shannon. Her The Bone Season came out right when I needed it and so far I have purchased the series and plan on purchasing any book she releases. Her current series is a bit dystopian fantasy which I know some people frown on but they speak to me.

AIM

AOL Instant Messaging – how 90s kids communicated with their friends after school before everyone had a cell phone.

Book that connected you with your best friend.

Uh, sorry. My best friend is my husband and he doesn’t read. When we first got together we read some Dean Koontz books because we both love his Odd Thomas series which was a nice kind of bonding I suppose. Since then, and that has been a decade ago, I don’t think I’ve seen him pick up a book besides It which I am not touching with a ten foot pole.

Furby

Creepy needy robots you could teach to talk and were probably demon possessed. Somehow these made a comeback?

Book that seemed like a good idea but was actually a monster.

A God in the Shed by J-F Dubeau . The premise of this book sounded amazing and so many of the reviews were over the moon about it, I had to pick up this book! Then I did and my oh my did it not live up to its expectations. It was too long and too boring.

N’SYNC

90s quintessential boy band. You may have heard of Justin Timberlake?

A book you hated to say Bye, Bye, Bye to.

First off, never an NSYNC fan. My 90s heart requires me to say that the Backstreet Boys were better. Now, I hated to get to the end of A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab. Having to say goodbye to those characters that I had come to love in the world(s) that had gripped my imagination was terrible. Luckily, Schwab has announced further books set in that world but I won’t get over having to leave it the first time.

Slimed!

Getting green slime thrown on you, courtesy of the show Figure it Out. Also apparently still a thing at the Kid’s Choice Awards?

A book everyone loved but you hated.

Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle #1) by Jay Kristoff . Don’t hurt me. I think it was all of the asides at the end of nearly every page. I had never been so annoyed in my life. As I was reading along I knew there was a great story there but I couldn’t focus on it when my eyes kept jumping down to those asides. Can’t do it.

Oregon Trail

90s computer game you could usually play at school, which was great. It taught us people used to die a lot of gruesome, messy deaths.

A book that made you wish you died of dysentery.

Anyone who has read my blog probably knows what is coming here… Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. I wish I had put that darn thing down when I started to get bored and never looked back. Instead I suffered through page after page after page of boring, senseless dialogue with boring, simple characters. I want those hours of my life back.

Mixtape/CD

Back before everyone had music on their phones (remember, we didn’t have cell phones!) folks would rip their CDs and make mixes for each other.

Dial-Up Internet

You know how it’s annoying when you aren’t on LTE? IMAGING WAITING 10 MINUTES FOR INTERNET TO START AND ANOTHER 20 MINUTES FOR GOOGLE TO LOAD!

A book that took FOR FREAKING EVER to read.

The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox. This is a very old review but sweet jesus this book took me forever to get through. It was good, don’t get me wrong, but very weighty. I couldn’t get through more than a couple pages at time even though I was enjoying the story.

Kenan Thompson

He’s that guy who’s been on SNL forever. Also Mighty Ducks. Good Burger. Keenan and Kel. All That. Everything.

That book you see referenced everywhere and is in everything, but that’s okay because it’s awesome

Thumbs Up, Seven Up

A game where most the class closed their eyes and seven people tapped someone’s thumb and you had to guess who did it without peeking.

Book where you peeked just REAL quick at the ending because you don’t like guessing games.

Oh please, sweetie, I peak a look at the end of nearly every book. With very few exceptions, no matter how good a book is there is along a scene that is just…dull. When I hit that scene I usually find myself flipping to the last page just out of curiosity. Occasionally I regret it but no very often.

Dunkaroos

These were basically just Teddy Grahams dipped in frosting, which is still a wonderful snack idea.

Your ideal bookish snack.

Depends on the time of day. Morning? Mug of coffee. Afternoon? Cup of tea, the flavor of which varies depending on my mood. Evening? Either another cup of tea of a glass of wine. I’m not a real snacky person but I do like my liquids.

Collections of short stories that would scare any sensible kid! Plus, there were illustrations…

A book that kept you up all night.

Horror books don’t tend to keep me awake. They did in my late teens, early twenties but since then I’ve learned that real life is far scarier than anything I can read in a book. On that morbid thought…

Bill Nye the Science Guy

Basically the coolest thing you got to do in science class was watch Bill Nye. He has a Netflix show again!

A book that taught you something new.

Akhenaten: King of Egypt by Cyril Aldred. Non-fiction history of Ancient Egypt’s heretic pharaoh. I love reading about Akhenaten’s reign. No matter how much I read about it there is always more to learn. He was either a genius or completely insane…maybe both. Probably both.

That is it for The 90s Kid Book Tag! I hope you all enjoyed it. I would like to tag each and every one of you for this and please don’t forget to check out The Literary Phoenix. She has some great content and a very visually appealing blog.